One woman believes it is June 11 every day after suffering a brain injury. Her accident has resulted in short-term memory loss which sees her mind being involuntarily ‘reset' every two hours.
Riley Horner, 16, wakes up every morning believing it is June 11 2019. On this day, she attended a social dance held by the Future Farms of America State Convention with her friends.
This was a three-day event where high school students could learn about agriculture and business. There was also apparently a talent show and a social dance that the teens could get stuck into.
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However, while in attendance, the Illinois student was accidentally kicked in the head by someone who was allegedly crowd-surfing.
After suffering the blow, Horner was immediately rushed to the hospital and seen by doctors.
At the time, they believed that her head injury was a mild concussion and she was sent home soon after with just a pair of crutches.
Upon returning home though, Horner started to suffer multiple seizures. Her parents, Sarah and Jason Horner, carted her back and forth from countless hospital appointments.
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But despite the numerous visits and multiple tests, doctors were and still are baffled by Riley’s memory loss. They are also unsure whether Horner will be able to make a full recovery from her brain injury.
“[The doctors] tell us there’s nothing medically wrong,” Sarah said. “They can’t see anything. You can’t see a concussion though on an MRI or a CT scan. There’s no brain bleed, there’s no tumour.”
Sarah also says that as a result of the mysterious brain injury, her daughter “wakes up every morning, she thinks it’s June 11th.”
Speaking about her short-term memory loss Horner told WQAD, “I have a calendar on my door and I look and it’s September and I’m like, ‘Woah’."
Now, instead of relying on her memory, which resets every two hours, Horner writes notes and takes pictures to remember important things that are going on.
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“I’m not making memories,” Horner said. “And I’m just, like, really scared.”
While the former athlete is scared for herself, she also bravely acknowledges that this memory loss is tough on her parents, too.
“I know it’s hard for [my parents] as much as it’s hard for me. And people just don’t understand. It’s like a movie… I will have no recollection of [this interview] come supper time.”
The movie Horner is referencing is 1993’s Groundhog Day. Directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray, the classic movie sees a man who is trapped in a time loop forced to repeat the same day over, and over again.
Horner said that by sharing her story, she hopes to inspire other brain injury sufferers to reach out. She also wants them to know that they are not alone.
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Almost four years on from her initial injury, doctors still haven’t found a cure for the teen’s memory loss.
Featured Image Credit: WQADTopics: News